All 4 Uses
defile
in
Oedipus the King
(Auto-generated)
- For this is our defilement, so the god Hath lately shown to me by oracles.†
*defilement = the act of spoiling the beauty or purity of something
- Therefore begrudging neither augury Nor other divination that is thine, O save thyself, thy country, and thy king, Save all from this defilement of blood shed.†
- But other grievous things he prophesied, Woes, lamentations, mourning, portents dire; To wit I should defile my mother's bed And raise up seed too loathsome to behold, And slay the father from whose loins I sprang.†
defile = to spoil the beauty or purity of something
- OEDIPUS Then had I never come to shed My father's blood nor climbed my mother's bed; The monstrous offspring of a womb defiled, Co-mate of him who gendered me, and child.†
defiled = spoiled the beauty or purity of something
Definitions:
-
(1)
(defile) to spoil the beauty or purity of somethingin various senses, including:
- pollute a pristine lake
- harm a reputation or good name
- damage or disrespect something sacred
- take a person's virginity in a disrespectful way
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) More rarely (but not uncommon in classic literature), defile can refer to a narrow valley or a march or passage through one.